By providing better information to users regarding energy consumption, better decisions may be made to assist in energy consumption reduction. There are already many products available on the market to measure the energy consumption of a residential environment. For example, The Energy Detective (TED) measures the total electricity consumption and provides real-time kW/hr readings, load profiles for up to 5 appliances, monthly bill projections, voltage and power factor. A current clamp is connected to the main electricity cable and measures the total consumption of the residence. The user can also buy individual appliance monitors to monitor particular appliances. These sensors are inserted between the wall outlets and the appliances' cord and may communicate together.
Some of the challenges of such systems is the desire to strike a balance between the complexity of the system, the costs, and the precision. Reduced complexity will lead to lower costs, but will also lead to lower precision. Without the proper precision, the information provided loses its value. Most existing systems use high precision sensors such as current transformers.
Therefore, there is a need to improve existing systems for measuring energy consumption in various environments.